Assays and reagents for identifying anti-fungal agents, and uses related thereto

Abstract

The present invention relates to rapid, reliable and effective assays for screening and identifying pharmaceutically effective compounds that specifically inhibit the biological activity of fungal GTPase proteins, particularly GTPases involved in cell wall integrity, hyphael formation, and/or other cellular functions critical to pathogenesis. Another aspect of the present invention relates to novel Candida genes and gene products.

We claim:  
     
       1. An isolated nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid of SEQ ID No. 1, 3, or 5. 
     
     
       2. An expression construct comprising the nucleic acid of claim  1 . 
     
     
       3. A host cell transformed with the expression construct of claim  2 . 
     
     
       4. A method for producing a recombinant protein comprising culturing the host cell of claim  3  under conditions sufficient to produce a cell culture expressing said polypeptide, and isolating said polypeptide from said cell culture. 
     
     
       5. An isolated nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid which encodes an amino acid sequence selected from SEQ ID Nos. 2, 4, and 6.